A shout out to a new generation of musicians

Tuesday, March 31, 2015 — Anybody who knows me can tell you music plays a big role in my life. I guess that’s one of the characteristics of being a musician. Frankly, I can’t even imagine my life without music — it’s that important to me.

Last Tuesday evening I attended the Susanville Symphony Society’s Academy of Music Spring Recital at the United Methodist Church for an hour-long concert by young and old players alike who are new to their instruments.

From one musician to another, let me welcome you to a wonderful world of discovery and enjoyment. You’ve already taken that first giant step, and I wholeheartedly congratulate you on your decision to learn to play an instrument. Well done.

District needs state’s help to sort out watermaster issues

Tuesday, March 31, 2015 — Probably none of us here in conservative Lassen County wants to find himself or herself beholden to the liberal bureaucracy that is the state government in Sacramento. That’s a given.

But the Honey Lake Valley Resource Conservation District has allowed the watermaster service it has administered since 2008 under a Lassen County Superior Court decree to become a boil that must be lanced and the infection cleaned before any healing can begin.

U.S. Secret Service agents tainted by scandal

Tuesday, March 24, 2015 — In slightly less than three years, the long-held and stellar reputation of the United States Secret Service has taken solid hits as a result of three public scandals, the last of which occurred during the first week of this month and just came to light.

It has been reported two senior agents, one of whom is a top member of President Barack Obama’s protective detail, crashed a government vehicle into a White House barrier while allegedly under the influence of alcohol.

Prior to last week the most recent incident occurred in September 2014 when a man with a knife jumped the White House fence and was able to run all the way to the mansion before being stopped.

Welcome home Vietnam veterans

Tuesday, March 24, 2014 — The Vietnam War fiercely divided America and left many scars, especially on the men and women who answered when their country called. Many of those veterans report they were treated badly by anti-war critics when they returned from Southeast Asia — being spat upon and even being called baby killers. Many still feel forgotten and unappreciated today. Despite their service to their country in a war that became increasingly unpopular as the years of conflict grew, many Vietnam veterans felt slighted upon their return to their homeland.

Certainly we cannot change the events of the past or undo the unfortunate treatment many veterans suffered upon their return, but we can and should make amends today to those brave men and women who fought in Vietnam — those who enlisted and those who were drafted — by celebrating Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day on March 30 each year. That welcome home is long overdue, and it’s been a long time coming.

Both houses of Congress passed resolutions in 2007 proclaiming March 30 — the official date of America’s final withdrawal from Vietnam — as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.